1907 ECAHA season
The 1907 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) season lasted from January 3 until March 10. Teams played a ten game schedule. The Montreal Wanderers won the league championship going undefeated, with their only loss of the season coming in a Stanley Cup challenge series with Kenora. League business Executive * Fred McRobie (President) * Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Ottawa (1st Vice-President) * Gordon Blair, Quebec (2nd Vice-President) * Emmett Quinn, Shamrocks (Secretary-Treasurer) Nationals and Grand Trunk applied for franchises but did not get three-fourths approval. Rule changes * Teams could have professionals as well as amateurs * After a puck strikes a goalie, the rebound could now be played by the defending team without it being called offside * A player injured in the first half can sit for ten minutes and the other team has to take off a player. Regular season Frank McGee of Ottawa retired to pursue his government career. Prior to the season, Ottawa travelled to Winnipeg for a series of exhibition games against Manitoba league teams including the Kenora Thistles, who then came east to play a challenge in Montreal. Highlights A major battle took place for the game between the Senators and Wanderers on January 12. Stick work was the order of the day as Charles Spittal of Ottawa knocked Cecil Blachford in the head, Alf Smith hit Hod Stuart in the head and Harry Smith broke Ernie Johnson's nose. The Wanderers would still win, 4–2. After the game, a special league meeting was called to hand out discipline, with Victorias and Wanderers wanting Spittal and Alf Smith suspended for the season. The players were not suspended, leading the league president Mr. McRobie to resign, leaving Darcy McGee to take over as president. On the next visit of the Ottawa team to Montreal, to play the Victorias, the three Ottawa players were arrested by Montreal police. Eventually Alf Smith and Spittal were fined $20 for their actions and Harry Smith was found not guilty. The scoring championship was close, with Ernie Russell of the Wanderers placing first with 42 goals in 9 games, and Russell Bowie scoring 38 in 10 games. Final standings Results Goalkeeper averages Leading scorers Stanley Cup Challenges The 1907 season had two Stanley Cup champions, Montreal Wanderers and Kenora Thistles. Wanderers vs. New Glasgow The Wanderers played one Stanley Cup challenge before the season, defeating the New Glasgow Cubs in a two-game series 10–3, 7–2, December 27–29, 1906. This was the first series in which professional players played for the Stanley Cup, as the Wanderers and other teams in the ECAHA were starting to mix amateurs with pros in their squads. Wanderers vs. Kenora at Montreal The Wanderers played one Stanley Cup challenge during the season, losing to the Kenora Thistles 2–4, 6–8 on January 17–21. Aided by future Hockey Hall of Famers Tom Hooper, Tommy Phillips, and Art Ross, the Thistles came away with 4–2 and 8–6 victories for a combined score of 12–8 to win a two-game total goals series. A "ringer", Ross was a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings and was borrowed by Kenora for just the challenge games. Kenora vs. Brandon Kenora would play and win the Manitoba Professional Hockey League(MPHL) playoffs against Brandon to successfully defend the Cup, winning a best-of-three series 2–0. Kenora added for this series Alf Smith and Rat Westwick of Ottawa, whose season with the ECAHA was already over. At the time of this series, the acting Stanley Cup trustee William Foran had already declared Smith and Westwick ineligible for the challenge series. After the series was over, the Manitoba League registered their disapproval over Mr. Foran's decision to exclude the players. Wanderers vs. Kenora at Winnipeg Kenora went ahead and added Alf Smith and Rat Westwick of Ottawa for the challenge, against the wishes of Mr. Foran. The series was supposed to start on March 21 in Kenora, but Montreal protested the use of Smith and Westwick and wanted to play in Winnipeg. Foran ruled that both players were ineligible. The clubs went ahead and started the series on March 23 in Winnipeg. Mr. Foran was notified by the press (inaccurately) that Montreal had dropped its protest and that the clubs intended to play anyway. Mr. Foran threatened to take the Cup back to Ottawa: If the two clubs ignore the instructions of the cup trustees by mutually agreeing to play against Westwick and Smith when both were positively informed these men were ineligible to participate in the present cup matches, the series will be treated as void, and the cup will be taken charge of by the trustees. It will remain in their possession till the various hockey leagues can educate themselves up to a standard where decent sport will be the order of the day.”/blockquote> The teams went ahead and played the series. However, Mr. Foran changed his mind after the Wanderers won the Cup, stating that the Wanderers could keep the Cup, because they had not rescinded their protest. Kenora Thistles January 1907 Stanley Cup champions Montreal Wanderers March 1907 Stanley Cup champions Regular Season Game Ads 07ECAHAMontrealGameAd.jpg|Montreal 07ECAHAOttawaGameAd.jpg|Ottawa 07ECAHAQuebecGameAd.jpg|Quebec City Stanley Cup Game Ads 06Dec27SCupMontrealGameAd.jpg|Dec. 27 @ Montreal See Also Category:1907 in hockey Category:Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association Category:Stanley Cup Finals